Vanished
by battousaichick
Summary: A short story based off the urban legend of the vanishing hitchhiker AU  Part One of at least two!


A/N: Long time no see! I don't think I've written anything since I've been out of the hospital and I would like to apologize for that. It sucks and I have no life.

Anyway, we were discussing "the vanishing hitchhiker" urban legend in my Folklore class today (yeah that's right I'm in summer school) and I was inspired to write this. It's defiantly different than what I have written in the past. I hope you enjoy

**Vanished**

It was late, and the road was long. Snow covered the ground, lighting up what should have been the darkest of nights. Kaoru was fighting the urge to yawn. It had been a long day working at the Inn in Kobe, and now it was time to go home. Blinking the edges of exhaustion from her eye she noticed a figure off in the distance. As she got closer she noticed that the figure was a distressed looking woman.

"Can I help you?" Kaoru asked when she rolled down the window to speak to the woman.

"Yes, please, my car swerved off the bank over there, my house is just up the road, could you possibly give me a ride?"

Kaoru looked behind the woman, and indeed there was a steep drop off the side of the road. How this woman was able to crawl out of there Kaoru did not know. "Of course, climb on in." It surprised Kaoru when the woman walked around the car and settled in the back seat instead of the one beside her.

Turning her gaze back to the woman, she was taken back by her beautiful features. It wasn't just any type of beautiful either. Her beauty was quiet, feminine, and real. Her deep brown eyes were almost black and shone with knowledge that someone her age should not have. Her skin looked soft under the light created by the snow. And her voice was kind, even when she was panicked she still held a demure tone that could sooth anyone.

"So where is your house?" Kaoru swallowed the nervous lump in her throat created by the look in the other woman's eyes.

"That farm house just up the road." She pointed with one slender finger towards the only lights in the distance.

"Okay, we'll have you there in a jiffy." Kaoru smiled and started the motor. She cranked up the heater and started on down the long straight road.

When she glanced back at the woman she noticed that she seemed to be off in her own world as she stared out the window. Shaking her head Kaoru turned back to concentrate on the road.

The long silence bothered her a bit, Kaoru was used to noise, having two rowdy brothers it came with the territory. "So does your family live on the farm?"

The woman smiled at her and nodded.

"My brothers, Sanosuke, and Yahiko, and I were raised in a dojo not far from here. We had a lot of room to run, much like a farm. I don't think I could have handled them if they didn't have an outlet for all their excess energy." Kaoru laughed to herself, thinking about her brothers. There was silence from the back seat.

"So… What's your name?" Kaoru turned to glance at the woman noticing that she was sleeping, her head resting against the window that she had been looking out of only a few moments before.

The road to the farm house was farther than it seemed. And Kaoru's back tightened as she felt the weight of the day take effect on her muscles. The woman in the back just kept on sleeping. Kaoru let her be. The stress of driving off the road had finally taken its toll. Kami knows that _she_ probably wouldn't have made it back up to the road if she was in the woman's place.

0-0-0

Finally they had made it to the driveway of that little farm house with its bright lights. Sighing as she turned off the car Kaoru turned to wake up the woman. But she was nowhere to be found. Baffled Kaoru rubbed her eyes, but still the woman was not there. Jumping from her seat she ran around the car and flung open the back door. Pressing her hands against the seat it felt icy cold, as if no one had been sitting there at all.

"Can I help you?"

The voice frightened Kaoru so much she shot up and bashed her head on the roof of her car. "Ouch!" Rubbing her head she peered over at the body that inhabited the voice. And it was amazing. She had to blink to make sure that the bonk to her head wasn't making her see things.

The person who spoke was a man. Not exactly masculine, in fact his features would be better described as feminine. He had soft looking face, with crimson hair framing it. Normally in the dark you cannot see the color of a persons eyes, but his where such a vivid lavender they almost seemed to shine. But even with all these soft features there was something about him that reeked maleness. Maybe it was the cross shaped scar that enhanced his jaw line. Or the way he carried himself so upright, but he was defiantly not a "girly-man" in the least.

"Umm…" She couldn't think of what to say. How do you tell a person that you may have just given an imaginary woman a ride to a house in the middle of nowhere?

He raised an eyebrow and stared at her. "What is it? It is late at night, and you're sort of trespassing."

"Oh no no no no…" Kaoru held up her hands and shook her head, "I'm sorry. I'm just trying to find a way to tell you why I'm here without sounding like a crazy lady."

"Well… Why don't you just start with the truth?"

Oh if he only knew. Kaoru sighed, might as well try the truth, what's the worst that could happen? This gorgeous man would laugh in her face and she would drive away feeling like a fool. Taking a deep breath Kaoru explained as fast as she could while trying to keep her dignity, "Okay well you see, I was driving down the road when this woman flagged me down saying that she drove her car off the bank and needed a ride here… But she kind of disappeared."

"She drove her car off the bank?"

Kaoru nodded. Here it came the laughing would start any second now.

But it never came.

"Tomoe…"

Kaoru looked at the man, a sad look flashed across his face when he had said the name. "Excuse me?"

The man smiled. "Wondering why I'm not surprised by your story?" She nodded, that was the understatement of the year. "You're not the first one to tell it to me. There were three other's with the same story."

"I don't understand."

"The woman you saw, her name was Tomoe, and she was my wife."Kaoru just stared at him. "Four years ago on a night like this one she was killed by a drunk driver when she was trying to flag him down for help after she drove her car off the road." The man clenched his fists; the pain was still there no matter how deep he tried to burry it.

"Oh my god." Kaoru paled. Had she given a ride to a ghost? It wasn't just that, she was staring at the ghost's widowed husband, and he seemed almost unfazed by that fact.

The man put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You look like you could use a cup of hot tea."

All Kaoru could do was nod. What else could she say?

"I'm Kenshin, What is your name?"

"Kaoru, My name is Kaoru."

-Fin-

A/N: Okay if you haven't guessed this story was totally written on the fly. I actually have a story idea for a partner piece… It's another spin off the vanishing hitchhiker. I won't write it unless it's voted on. So Yes or No. Do it now! XDDD

I know it's not the best but please review, it makes my day.


End file.
